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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bear · cold · coach · band · press · tube · charge · season

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. charge — a price
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — not warm
  5. charge — electricity
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. tube — a container
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. band — a music group
  12. tube — the underground
  13. charge — in control
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. press — to push
  16. season — in sport
  17. press — newspapers
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. season — of the year
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bear — the animal
  24. press — a publisher

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com